We caught up with AUCTION FOR THE PROMISE CLUB before the launch of their debut album....
We're huge supporters of local music and having seen a band called AUCTION FOR THE PROMISE CLUB a few years ago in Exeter supporting The Sherpas we were hooked and wanted more....
After a few more shows including an appearance at the BBC Introducing event in Teignmouth where they supported Devon rock heavyweights REIGNING DAYS, it was off to BOARDMASTERS in Newquay to catch them playing to thousands of people on the main stage.
I was delighted to hear that they are releasing their debut album SILENCE on June 9th and caught up with Toby from the band to chat about the recording process, music festivals and playing abroad, read on to see how we got on....
What is the one thing that made you want to form a band in the first place?
… goodness knows!! As if life wasn’t complicated enough! Ha!
You’ve previously played festivals including Bestival, Boardmasters, Y Not, Lodestar, Leopallooza and even the Olympic Park during London 2012, what is THE magical formula that EVERY festival should add into their recipe to make it a real success?
A massive pile of love for supporting new music like you guys do.
Which of the festivals that you’ve already played was your favourite?
Bestival was pretty epic but Leopallooza takes the biscuit year after year!
Have you played overseas yet? If YES, how did the audience react to your music?
We finally managed to get to Germany a few weeks ago. We have wanted to play in Germany for quite sometime but we have never made it feasible and then we met a brilliant and fabulously crazy German called Stephan who loves music and collecting records. A true legend! The gigs were really fun and we have made some new friends which is what it’s all about.
Your debut album “Silence” is released on June 9th, the cover art shows a massive wave breaking onto a rock which is surely everything BUT “Silent”, please would you explain how you settled on the album name? Where was the cover art shot and who took the picture?
We have taken a while to release our first album and ‘Silence’ is one of the songs on the album that has taken the journey with us. It’s a song that has the ebbs and flows of sound. Perran took the photo and we felt it gave the feel of the band, the music, the influences around us.
How did you approach the song-writing process for the album? Was it any different from your previous recording sessions?
It's more of a collection of songs that have grown with us, some more than others. The time scale of the process gave us a group of songs that are quite varied rather than maybe an album written with a more of a narrative or in a given time scale.
Where did you record the album and who produced it?
Airfield Studio in Cornwall with Paul Reeve.
I guess the set list is going to lean pretty heavily on the new material, will you also be planning on playing a few older tracks too?
Yeah a couple of oldies!
I just watched the video for “See Through”, where was it recorded?
It was filmed at Dingles Fairground Centre near Launceston. It’s a great place with lovely old vintage fairground rides. A grand day out!
What is the BEST thing that has happened to you (as a band) since forming?
Recording at Abbey Road Studios was pretty amazing, the Olympic Park gigs were great too. There are quite a few things that spring to mind, quite a lot for a crap little band from the Southwest!
Who is the most unique or interesting person you've ever had the privilege of meeting?
Billy Bragg once said to us “Your band is like a pot plant, you have to feed and nurture it for it to flower”.
Every band has had gigs they’d rather forget owing to a bunch of reasons, tell me about one of these gigs and what happened?
We played at a venue called The Flower Pot in Camden, I think it has closed down/changed its name again now. It was a cool proper music venue and everything but maybe we weren’t the right mojo for the night or something because it just felt so awkward. In the bar people were just sat on garden benches right in front of us, they were looking so pissed off that we were making noise so they couldn’t talk to each other!
How would you like people to remember your band?
For the energetic and fun live gigs, for the good times with the fantastic people that support our band and come to see us play.
What was the FIRST instrument you ever played? How long did you stick at it for?
Drums, still trying to stick at it now!
Can you share a fascinating fact about the music industry that everyday folk wouldn’t necessarily know?
Bands only earn about 0.01 pence for a play on Spotify/Deezer… so if you like a band’s music do try and make the effort to buy a physical copy of the album/single or whatever merch because it hugely helps the band continue making the music you like.
You play at the Royal Cornwall Show in Wadebridge on June 9th, are you also planning any Summer festivals? If so, which ones?
We have the BBC introducing stage at the Royal Cornwall Show, then we are straight away down to The Driftwood Spars, St Agnes for the first Album launch party on the 9th June and then on the 10th June we have Mono in Falmouth for the Second Album launch party (its going to be a sweaty weekend). We have the St Mary’s Hall Appledore on the 30th June and we have been confirmed for Leopallooza BBC Introducing stage 30th July and hopefully a few more in the pipe line.
We'd like to thank Toby for sparing the time to chat to us, we wish the band every success with the new album and we KNOW that it's going to be amazing, to buy the album as well as other goodies from their store, click HERE
Auction For The Promise Club are;
Zoe White Chambers - Vocals, Guitar
Perran Tremewan - Guitars, Keys
Toby White Chambers - Drums
Keep up to date with them at the following places.